Spike Jones & His City Slickers were amazingly talented but very corny.
Homer & Jethro grew up on corn, and were musically talented as well.
The Smothers Brothers sing “Boil That Cabbage Down” that includes the history of the Trans-Continental Railroad.
Rodney Carrington‘s song about an awful day (and it’s worse than finding pumas in the crevasse).
Cool animation.
Talking Heads: Wild Wild Life
The Ramones: Sheena Is a Punk Rocker
Tom Waits: Downtown Train
And now for our Feature Presentation:
ATTACK OF THE KILLER PARASITES!
[Tip o’ the tarboosh to the entirely bitchin’ Miss Cellanea.]
[Found at Arbroath.]
Twilight Zone-ish.
Interesting documentary… Interviews of some of the patrons of the “Spin Cycle” laundromat somewhere in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Oh, yeah. “Ya ya ya aya…” Gotta post some music. Do not mock those who try. [Also found at Arbroath.]
Howlin’ Wolf’s classic “Smokestack Lightning.”
[UPDATE: The bass player in this clip is Willie Dixon. THE Willie Dixon. Sorry I missed giving him credit. Dixon wrote a number of songs that later became rock standards. He recorded some albums himself, and didn’t stutter when he sang. More after the break below.]
“Theme to Peter Gunn.” Here’s Henry Mancini’s live version, introduced by Steve Allen. (The horn section rocks, whether you like it or not.)
Last Post on THIS Spin Cycle: The Late Great Roy Buchanan‘s explosive take on Mancini’s “Theme to Peter Gunn.” (This one’s for all you Aussies – Thanks for the hula-hoops, mates!)
Sorry, folks, Bunk’s kinda wiped out today… had to throw this together at the last minute. I’ll be in better shape tomorrow.
The guy’s amazing.
Clever animation, via the Presurfer.
Don’t EVEN mess with Chuck.
Meade Lux Lewis was prolly the greatest boogie woogie piano man ever.
Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson were no slouches either.
Bluegrass has its roots in northern Britain according to my ear. The chord patterns of early country music from Appalachia follow those of Scottish and Irish reels. In the immigration wave of the early 1800’s, the Scottish and Irish tended to venture southward, away from the constrictions of the north, to where they could work their own land. No wonder that early southern recordings sound similar to those of Ireland and Scotland.
Bill Monroe & his Bluegrass Boys popularized it and gave the style it’s moniker: Bluegrass. This song (video from 1956) is a tribute to Pendleton Vandiver, Monroe’s uncle. Monroe joined his uncle Pen’s band as a kid; his sound dates back to the turn of the century.
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs put Bluegrass on the popular map as pickin’ speed demons.
The Dillards were the Darlings clan on the Andy Griffith show. The Dillards decided that L.A. had more to offer than the Missouri Ozarks, and advertised themselves on the streets in the early 1960’s.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band were influenced by the Dillards, and took Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. BoJangles” for a ride.
What I was really looking for when all this linkyness began was New Grass Revival‘s version of “Steam Powered Aeroplane,” one of the prettiest bluegrass songs I ever heard:
"Well I went away on a Steam Powered Aeroplane. Well I went and I stayed and damn near didn't come back again. Didn't go very fast on a steam powered aeroplane, The wheels went around, up and down, and inside and then back again. Sittin' on a 747 just watching them clouds roll by, Can't tell if it's sunshine, if it's rain. Rather be sittin' in a deck chair high up over Kansas City, On a genuine old fashioned oil finish Steam Powered Aeroplane. Well I'd could be PILOT on the Steam Powered Aeroplane. I'd pull that pilot wheel 'round, then back again. And I'd wear a blue hat, YEAH, on the Steam Powered Aeroplane, With letters go 'round the brim and then back again. Sittin' on a 747 just watching them clouds roll by, Can't tell if it's sunshine or if it's rain. Rather be sittin' in a deck chair high up over Kansas City, On a genuine old fashioned oil finish Steam Powered Aeroplane."
Here’s the songwriter, John Hartford, with Tony Rice, Vassar Clements and others. (Yeah, his vocals don’t do justice for the song.)
Great pre-sunrise morning roadtrip music, just like Pat Metheny’s “New Chataqua Highway,” or anything by Django Reinhardt and Stephan Grappelli.
[Bunk’s compiling his roadtrip list for next month. Lemme know your favorites.]
She’s obviously tech support for Microsoft. (To be honest, I’d prolly be doing the same thing if I hadda work in a cubicle like that.)
Nancy Cartwright’s 2004 interview in Australia.
“I’m Bart Simpson, man. Who the hell are you?”
I don’t own Leslie Gore. She owned me up until I saw her hairdo and horseface. Bunky just sealed his eyeballs shut and listened.
I remember hearing this on the battery powered transistor radio I got for Christmas that I hid under my pillow, and Skeeter Davis sounded so purty. She’s another one who had a great voice and a bad hairdo. (I’d never seen her until a few minutes ago, but I was in love with her when I was about 8.)
Then there’s k.d. lang. Just ’cause she gotta big caboose and a butch haircut doesn’t mean I don’t like her music.
And then there’s poor Baz. [Tip o’ the tarboosh to Phil. He says it’s been around for a few years, and somehow he knew that I’d like it by saying so on his Blog From Down Under.]
Speaking of Down Under, some time ago, when WordPress was revamping it’s vamps, I was unable to add the video above to this post. Found a new link for it by accident, so here it is.
Noodlin’ is catchin’ de fishes widdout dem bait in tackle. Feel ‘roun’ fo de ho in de mud, reach innan grab ‘im what dere. Justin Wilson be done do dat, too. Noah fence.
There are professional noodlers, and the good ones are missing fingers because snapping turtles nest the same way. (Once they got you, turtles won’t let go.)
Then there’s this. It’s cool, too, except for that giggle at the end.
[Aussie friend Phil phound the catfish catch. Chair kick found at Arbroath.]
Lookee here folks… this particular post has no theme, so it makes complete sense to post a coupla completely unrelated videos here.
“The Commitments” was a very underrated movie about a bunch of Irish misfits that came together with a love for 1960’s American R&B and pulled it off before self-destructing. Put it on your “must rent” list if you’ve not seen it.
Here’s the real deal that’s too hot to handle and too cold to hold: The Wicked Wilson Pickett’s “Land of 1000 Dances.”
Otis Redding followed in Wilson’s footsteps. Here’s “Try A Little Tenderness.” Look for Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, Al Jackson and Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the M.G.’s) backing him up.
Here’s a National Lampoon classic, Deteriorata, updated with a slide show. And since you were wondering, Bunk’s God is both a hairy thunderer AND a cosmic muffin.
Here at TR we like the Odd, the Unusual, and the unrecognizable green stuff in the back of the refrigerator that controls the light.
Once in a while the O and U both jump up to bite us in the crackerbockles when we least expect it. Miss Bunkessa Strutts found this gem, and while the song is not remarkable, the video is clever, as are the other videos seeping from the cranial orifices of the band known as “OK GO.”
Enough of that. Back in the middle of the plastic band war years, this one stood out. Here’s the J.Geils Band c.1983 doing a cover of the Marvelow‘s 1965 hit “I Do” with Peter Wolf and Magic Dick presiding. Hope you like it.
Waddlin’, waddlin’, waddlin’, Though the pond is coddlin’
Keep them duckies waddlin’, Raw Duck!
Rain and wind and weather, Hell-bent in feather,
Wishin’ my gal was by my side.
All the things I’m missin’, Good vittles, love, and kissin’,
Are waiting at the end of my ride.
Cull ’em out, pluck ’em off, pluck ’em off, cull ’em out
Cull ’em out, pluck ’em off, Raw Duck
Dress ’em up, lay ’em down, lay ’em down, baste ’em up
Make sure the oven’s preheated to 375 because no one likes
Raw Duck!
from arbroath.blogspot.co posted with vodpod
Being a duckboy is hard work. Here’s more proof:
This Duck needs no introduction:
Finally, here’s an Odd Duck. Democrat presidential candidate and zen master, Alaska’s former Senator Mike Gravel has the most bizarre political non-political ad I’ve ever seen, and it creeps me out a little:
We assume the message is “Don’t mess with Gravel. He’ll mess up your pond reflections.”
Tacky Raccoons 